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Shaky Xhaka forcing Arsenal to pay Seri’s £33m transfer fee?

How often have Arsenal fans and football pundits talked about the central midfield problem? Pretty much constantly ever since we lost the services of the warrior that was Patrick Vieira, with many feeling it is no coincidence that the Gunners have not lifted the Premier League trophy since the Frenchman left our club in 2005.

That issue was supposed to have been resolved by the signing of Granit Xhaka for big money last summer, but despite some good performances, especially towards the end of last season, the Switzerland international did not instantly settle in the Premier League after impressing in the German Bundesliga.

Arsene Wenger clearly has faith in Xhaka, though, and will have expected him to be more settled and much more influential for the Gunners in his second season, but so far he has been even worse. Sloppy passing and poor form in the middle has cost us goals in both opening league games and with this season’s race for the title looking as tough as ever we can barely afford to carry passengers or wait for certain players to find some form.

So with a little over a week of the transfer window left and with The Mirror reporting that both Liverpool and Barcelona are showing interest in our transfer target Jean Seri, is it time for Wenger to stop haggling and just agree to pay the £33 milion that is the talented midfielder’s release clause from Nice?

Wenger has already stated he won’t be signing anyone until the 33 man squad is significantly reduced roughly translated it means he’s not signing anyone! I hold no optimism with Wenger the owner and board they are as completely clueless and ignorant as each other! I really dread 2 more or 2 more plus years of Wenger. So doesn’t even matter if I’m wrong and he makes 10 new signings with Wenger in charge doesn’t make a blind bit of difference they would all be played out of position until the point they’ve become future deadwood like the current crop.

This has been another one of those most disappointing transfer windows. Even with the acquisition of Lacazette and Kolasinac (free), it has been a huge failure from the Arsenal brass in terms of not selling enough players, not being able to renew crucial contract on certain players, giving players huge wages when they don’t deserve it, lack of ability to identify targets which is perhaps down to poor scouting, and not able to bring in players that would strengthen us in an already inadequate and flawed team. Judging from these conclusion one can safe to say there is not ambition from Arsenal and certainly no desire to win any trophies, hence Arsenal is no longer a top squad. Top in money making yes, but not a club looking to succeed in football history. This is our reality.

If Arsenal keeps playing with the current system, any new skillful midfielder would not be able to change anything. They had better try a completely pragmatic approach, like what Manchester United did.

Barca are already in place for seri and deal will be completed this week according to reports! Wenger is slow in pursuit of recruits! It’s the same old! We needed a an enforcer in midfield and a quality centre back! The spine needed to be addressed and he has again neglected that! We spent £50m+ on lacazette early in the window and we went quiet again! It’s not good enough! Wenger out!

Would be great if we could sign Seri as an addition to the team, but I can’t see it happening. It’s looking like yet another Deja Vu season where Arsenal stop short in the transfer market and repeat the usual mistakes regarding the league campaign.

Not only that, but so many players seem to go backwards under Wenger and get progressively worse these days. I can’t be a coincidence any more. Can’t help thinking that we could buy Lionel Messi and somehow make him look average in this team.

The new formation and 2 two good signings gave us a glimmer of hope, but I guess you really can’t teach an old dog new tricks. The next two seasons will be painful.

the issue here is xhaka himself..dude embodies everything arsenal is about, being you never know what to expect. he is not good defensively to be considered a DM, not also that good with the ball to be a solid CM, hence the conundrum. in my opinion he should be seen as a poor man toni kross(and that’s a poor man who can only afford 2 meals per day and live on less than 2 dollars per day). and the only reason toni kross work so well in MADRID is because of modric nd casemiro hiding his few limitation. but we don’t have anything close to those two in our team, our formation doesn’t even permit that. maybe(looking unlikely) we get seri and he is everything xavi says he is nd he take control of the ball playing and we get a solid mobile CB to cover for both defensively while also doing his job at the back..only then will we really more upward as a team..again xhaka is a 32m headache. Morning guys have a blessed week

Lol at the above comment. The guy cant run, cannot pass more than 5 yards and has no positional awareness. For those who believe he is worth £30+ mill, I wouldnt be surprised when he is sold by Arsenal within the next 12 months, we will struggle to get £20m back for him!

From day one it was obvious that Xhaka would be a liability in the premiership.. He just doesn’t have the physical qualities of pace and mobility.
Danny Mills said it after analysing his game during the 2016 European championship.
He is a poor man’s Arteta. Arteta was also very slow but could still tackle and had good sharpness over 10 yards, Xhaka doesn’t!
I fear another 2 seasons of waiting for mistakes to happen as Wenger is too loyal. We had 5 years of mertesacker and Arteta and against the big teams you were always waiting for their mobility deficiencies to cost the team. With Xhaka you are waiting for it to happen against mid table teams as well. Take a loss on this guy and solve the problem now.

A total nonsense comment about the most creative midfielder in the premier league. Once he sorted out his disciplinary record which was never as bad as was made out he became a crucial player for Arsenal. Of course players such as Lemar and Seri are needed but to criticise Xhaka who has the best passing range of any midfielder in the country is plainly wrong

But….what is Xhaka? Is he a defensive midfielder or a creative midfielder? I ask because he is not good covering the back and he is not good dictating play in the middle and pushing the ball forward. Infact, the only 2 things he is good at is long crosses and long shots..the former of which is not so suitable to our carpet football and the later of which he seems to have stopped (who knows probably Wenger told him to stop shooting) . So yeah, Xhaka is a bloody headache because he cost a ton of money and at the moment doesn’t seem to play any better than a 12M midfielder.

It really baffles me a lot to see some fans so blind like Arsene to notice a very glaring weak spot in that midfield, because Xhaka made the error prior to the goal doesn’t mean he is the weak spot in that midfield. Where he doesn’t have any partner to help him out. I really feel sorry for the team with Ramsey still partnering Xhaka or Coq. We need a discipline midfieder to partner either Xhaka or le Coq, or play them both and either Ozil or Ramsey in bench coz Ozil is lazy and Ramsey isn’t reliable, doesn’t even know his roles, review that stoke city goal and you could see where Xhaka midfield partner *ramsey* is coming from. I realy fear for the this team playing Ramsey in very delicate position.. always always bombing forward

Mate Ramsey should replace Ozil as he at least tries to drive forwards and is ambitious in possession like how Jack was before injury. Ozil has literally been a huge disappointment considering he came in with huge expectation. Iwobi makes Ozil look like a rookie. Ramsey I can accept his mistakes because he tries something different to make a difference. Xhaka in possession is poor, his short passing is a joke, and he crumbles under physical pressure and is ponderous.. Not smart enough to be CM, not disciplined enough to be CDM and not mobile enough to break forward. Just a long range pass on him and decent shot from outside the box. I’d honestly play Coq before him.

This is a deja vu year.Nothing has changed.You cannot make a racehorse out of a donkey.So far the excuse this year is we cannot manage 33 players of which we need to decrease and this is putting a stop for new signing.We did not even start the season with so much EXCUSES.Wenger must retire and pension off.

Even if we needed to release players, it could have been planned ahead before the transfer market opened and is certainly doable during the transfer period if there was any urgency. It is poor to use it as an excuse for nit acquiring players. If it was so then why say we are going toto buy players when we cany from the beginning?

People defending Wenger will always say “it is still too early” or “we only played two games” but the reality is that it all adds up at the very end and is equally as important. Until we have fate in our own hands we cannot go and say along these lines as we should be fighting tooth and nail and die for every inch. We must not allow behaviour and character of being heedlessness because if we allow that then that is what we become. Arsenal is defined by what it is made of and being average is certainly not I want from my club.

I tell it you before his first game for Arsenal: Granit Xhaka never impressed in the Bundesliga. It’s the same when I say Mustafi impressed in the Premier League. Everybody in Germany was surprised that Arsenal buyed this absolut average player.

Xhaka never impressed in bundesliga but was in their team of the year and also captained his club at the ripe old age of 22
similarly ozil was one of the best players in the world when he was in real but here he is being ridiculed match after match
i won’t be surprised when people start to criticize kolasinac after a few matches
Over the last few years Wenger has developed the ability to turn quality players into crap aka arshavin, ozil etc

you are so right Wenger won’t spend the money on new players of world class standard has nothing to prove to the board either because he is the only manager in the premiur league who can make gagf after GAF and knows he has retained his job complete and utter madness , A
and the board they were quite happy at not replacing Webber because they had they done so big money would have had to be spent and sobeing greedy as they are we will keep Wenger he looks after us and we will just keep blaming the players for the inconsistency I don’t know what u think but on the bench u have a girod who admittlly isbf very fast however because of his build and because he knows how a run needs to be timed maybe he could play in centre midmidfueld holding up play ?

Don’t believe the German media. They like to suppress the opinion of the people. If Granit Xhaka, Mesut Özil or Lukas Podolski are in the team of the year then it means nothing. Angela Merkel is the nicest women of the world in German media and everybody in Germany want more refugees.

the most creative midfielder after what? like 2 games where he has been directly involved in three goals we have considered..guy get a coffee or probably just go back to sleep or go watch our last game again and tell me how many times he actually played a correct pass that wasn’t a side way pass. he kept on giving the ball away any time he tried playing it over the defender( in what i call the Henry ball). Pls I like xhaka too, on his day with no much pressure he can fool anyone by pulling off the pirlo. but u have to agree that he hasn’t all that good…and for the best creative midfielder in epl manh that’s just a stretch and you know it

As soon as i saw the pace of Xhaka i knew arsenal are in trouble. When u see his sideways passes and long passes u think u have a quality player. But he is always slow to the tackle and is unable to provide defensive cover for the back four. the guy cant sprint and in the premiership that is suicidal. I suggest you observe him better

Does it really matter who we buy if Wenger is just going to keep screwing up the tactics and playing our players out of position? It doesn’t matter who we buy. We have let in four goals in two games just because of Wenger’s stubborn insistence on playing Nacho Monreal as a centre back. This is madness! How bad is this injury that Per cannot play with a protective mask? Monreal is short and left footed and struggles to clear crosses or win headers. Even a blind man can see that. So why oh why does Wenger keep playing him in the centre of defense? It makes no sense. If you give Arsene Wenger the Real Madrid squad, he will manage to screw it up somehow. Hector Bellerin as a left wing back? Ox as a left wingback? Nacho as a centre back? Wenger just cannot resist the urge to shoot himself in the foot several times in one season. I just don’t understand him.

I can,t criticized xhaka bcos there are some days like dat which player wont perform upto his standard ,likewise mr wenger is too blame for any slitly mistake that occur in dat team 1 using players out of position 2lack of adequate signing 3 mistake in making sub 4using wrong tactics with wrong players 5 stubborness 6though all dis is happening bcos the team boards and owner are stupid 7i cant wait for dangote to take over and kick mr wenger and is fellow ass away good morning guys happy with lacazette and kolasinac recruite but they cant win us the league thanks 😀

@John0711 – i completely agree. that’s my tick you have. things are fu****g appalling but that’s not to say they can’t change. with arsenal fans there’s a battle between the heart and the (mind): the sensibilities tell us our club is in a mess…

@Kamikaze: no real harm intended – come on …d’you think we have the least chance among all those you mention… i think we’ll buy, regroup and make 3rd – the situation we’re in is not permanent, it can be reviewed, things will be changed.

dude the guy is right. We lost a title race against Leicester. If you lose that race then Huddersfield will win the title again before us. The anger comes because we know what we need personnel-wise to at least compete. We have known for ages but Wenger is stubborn. His mentality of mediocrity has infected the players. He is like a rapper from the early 2000’s making the same music when the kids clearly want mumble rap. He is the LL Cool J of football, respected but not for his skill on the mic anymore.

If xhaka don’t improve on his play making mistakes all the time he needs to be relegated to the bench but the question is,who is better than him in our current squad???? The problem with arsenal is we have more quantities than qualities…..xhaka is a good player but he lacks discipline….he is not a defensive midfielder, and his not that offensive player but i love the guy he is a good passer of the ball,we need holding midfielder, arsenal are too expose in the middle of the park…..

Yo guys are all going on about Xhaka. The real player that should not be in a top 6 team is Wellbeck. Please give him back to Manu for free. Talking about liabilities. Wenger takes off Kolasinak and Xhaka, when it should have been Bellerine and Wellbeck.

A lot of battering coming our this season, because of Wenger negligence.
as poor as xhaka was against stoke, an injury to him might as well end our season just like the case of carzorla last season.
it shows the squad is full of junks, that can’t influence game

It is only a couple of weeks ago, that Xhaka was the clear MOTM, and why was that?
Because he had Elneny to share the defensive duties with, freeing him to be more up the pitch and not the role right in front of the back 3.
Against Stoke, he was put in a role, that doesn’t work because Wenger played both Ramsey and Özil. That was the problem, and getting another playmaker doesn’t solve the problem. It actually only complicates team selection.
We need better midfield organization, especially defensively, to have any chance.

I wish 3 major Players can be bought to challenge everyone for their position. 1 Seri or Fabinho or Idrissa Gauye or Goereztka. 2. Draxler 3. Koulibaly or Van Dijk.

SERI: is not Defensive as Guaye and Fabinho, but he can creat short and long passes, He can also play on Ozil’s position where we can play Xhaka and Ramsey or Ramsey and Coquelin. if Xhaka did not up his game then Seri with coquelin will take the midfield from him.

IDRISA GUAYE: Very similar to Kante, he can shield Xhaka and help him when he makes some mistakes also, Gauye is a Box to Box Player, however he can also sit deep while xhaka Box to Box. the Partnership will make us more defensive

FABINHO: I doubt if he would come though, but he would bring the most Physical presence we all lacked since Veira. He’s tall, strong and can create a little but can also defend so well, Ramsey would play swift football with him well if xhaka didn’t up his game. But Fabinho and xhaka would solidify our midfield.just tackle get the long balls to Ozil,or Sanchez and defend.

GOERETZKA: He can tackle very well and defend too, but he’s not pacey ,same as Xhaka too. We cannot have two Central Midfielders that are not pacey.

DRAXLER: He can Challenge Ozil for his Position, Maybe when Ozil sees Competition from likes of Draxler it can push him to go extra miles to be better. Draxler can also play in Sanchez position. He can also play alongside Xhaka in the middle but maybe against some teams.

VAN DIJK; Noting more to say, But it think Mustafi would improve well playing alongside with him and Kosceny, Mustafi would learn a lot from Him

However Two would be Ideal, A solid and strong Center Back and a CDM. Seri or Idrissa Guaye very affordable and realistic. Everton just Bought Sirgusson and they he schnerdelin, Klassen and Guaye. If we put in a 35mil bid for Guaye they would sell him. No one is talking about Koulibaly but a 50mil for him or Van Dijk would be ideal, we can even offer them wilshire on loan

xhaha is becoming deadwood Wenger played bellrin on the left at wing half he is a right back recipe for disaster I think Wenger has lost the plot and we are only in the second game and already it like last season again God help us

The problem isnt getting new recruits in, It is our players mentality. Discipline. Commitment and work ethic
Every one wants to bombs forward and we lose our shape and discipline. No defense and we get numbered.
We can blame the manager. The coaches the bard but at the end of the day the players cross the white line.
I would go back to basics and pay by performance
You don’t perform then you get paid a basic and no bonus
You can change your car, house, name and even your wife but never your team
Come on you reds